WHEREAS, National Data Privacy Day originated from Europe’s Data Protection Day, established by the Council of Europe in 2006 to commemorate the 1981 signing of the Convention 108, the first international treaty on data protection. In 2008, the United States adopted it as Data Privacy Day; and
WHEREAS, In 2009, The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 31, formally recognizing January 28th as National Data Privacy Day to further the global effort to foster a culture of privacy, encouraging individuals and organizations to respect privacy and
safeguard data; and
WHEREAS, Data privacy is an individual’s right to control their personal information, affecting how organizations collect, use, share, and store it to ensure it is protected from misuse and unauthorized access. Data privacy is relevant to individuals' autonomy, anonymous speech, and the right to free association
; and
WHEREAS, National Data Privacy Day serves a crucial reminder for highlighting how the value of personal data, as well as the risks to it, have grown significantly with the rise of artificial intelligence, digital services, and evolving technologies; and
WHEREAS, These technological advancements bring an increased possibility of privacy invasion due to unprecedented attacks on data privacy, particularly under the Trump administration, including data breaches, misuse of personal information, and an increasingly complex legal landscape that makes it critically important to have strong data protections at the international, federal, state and local levels; and
WHEREAS, We recognize Data Privacy Day in the City of Philadelphia to lift the need for strong data protections to ensure the civil liberties of all marginalized and vulnerable communities; and
WHEREAS, Data privacy and security are critically important to safeguarding sensitive personal and institutional information, and strong protections are necessary to prevent vulnerabilities and misuse of data that disproportionately expose vulnerable communities to exploitation, discrimination, financial harm, and violations of their rights and dignity; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby recognizes
January 28th, 2026 as National Data Privacy Day in the City of Philadelphia.
End